This invention relates to a container casing for a tape cassette for a tape recorder or a video tape recorder.
In general, a tape cassette for an audio tape recorder or a video tape recorder is contained in a box-shaped tape cassette container casing of carton board paper or synthetic resin, such as polypropylene or polyethylene, opened at one end, or a tape cassette container casing of the same material as above, made up of a main casing member having upstanding outer wall sections defining a housing compartment for the tape cassette and a lid which may be folded over the main casing member at a hinge formed as one with the casing main member.
On the other hand, the tape cassette for professional use is increased in size in order to enable long-time recording. For example, the tape cassette for digital recording/reproduction has an outer size of 366 mm.times.206 mm.times.33 mm and a correspondingly increased weight. The box-shaped container casing for housing such large-sized tape cassette is difficult to transport manually. Besides, the tape cassette contained therein cannot be expected to be protected against impacts caused by possible descent.
Consequently, as a tape cassette container casing for containing the large-sized tape cassette, there has been provided a carrying-case type hard casing comprised of a casing main member of hard synthetic resin having a tape cassette housing recess and a lid which may be folded via a hinge onto the casing main member.
Referring to FIG. 3, a tape cassette container casing 10 includes a casing main member 11 having a rectangular tape cassette containing recess 12 having an opening size substantially equal to the outer size of a tape cassette 1 as later explained, and a flexible hinge 13 formed as one with the casing main member 11 by reducing the thickness of an opened lateral surface section of the casing main member 11. The tape cassette container casing 10 also includes a lateral surface section 14 connecting to the hinge 13 and constituting the open lateral surface section and a lid 16 connecting to the lateral surface section 14 via a second flexible hinge 15 of a reduced thickness. The lid 16 has a tape cassette housing recess 17 having an opening size substantially equal to the outer size of the tape cassette 1.
The lateral surface section of the casing main member 11 opposite to the opened lateral section connecting to the first hinge 13 is formed as one with an engagement section 19 via a flexible third hinge 18 of a reduced thickness. The lateral surface section of the lid 16 opposite to the lateral surface section formed as one with the second hinge 15 is formed a one with a mating engaging section 20 having a wedge-shaped cross-section. The lid 16 is folded over and abutted against the casing main member 11 via the hinges 13, 15 and the engagement section 19 is engaged with the mating engagement section 20 for maintaining the mutually engaged state between the casing main member 11 and the lid 16.
The bottom section of the tape cassette container recess 12 of the casing main member 11 is formed with a pair of upstanding reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B in a spaced apart relation along the longer side of the casing main member 11. The bottom surface of the tape cassette housing recess 17 of the lid 16 is formed with a pair of reel retention bosses 22A, 22B in association with the reel retention protrusions 21A, 21B, respectively. When the tape cassette 1 is housed in the tape cassette housing recess 12, the reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B are engaged in reel holes 4a, 4b of the tape cassette 1 for inhibiting idle rotation of the tape reels 4A, 4B, respectively. When the lid 16 is closed against the casing main member 11, the reel retention bosses 22A, 22B are caused to bear against the reel holder of the tape cassette 1 for inhibiting floating of the tape cassette 1.
The tape cassette 1 shown in FIG. 5 is housed in the above-described tape cassette container casing 10. The tape cassette 1 is a D-1 or D-2 type tape cassette for professional use which is capable of digital recording and which is comprised of a cassette casing 2 made up of upper and lower cassette halves and a pair of tape reels 4A, 4B which is rotatably mounted within the cassette casing 2 and on the outer surfaces of which a magnetic tape 3 is wound. A pair of guide holes 5A, 5B via which the reel holes 4a, 4b of the tape reels 4A, 4B are exposed to outside are bored in the bottom surface of the cassette casing 2, while a cassette lid 8 is removably mounted on one of the lateral surfaces of the cassette casing 2. In the present specification, the lateral surface on which the cassette lid 6 is mounted and the lateral surface opposite thereto are termed a front side and a rear side, respectively.
The tape cassette 1 is loaded in position on a loading portion of a recording/reproducing apparatus, not shown, with the aid of positioning openings 7A, 7B bored in the bottom surface of the cassette casing 2. When the recording or playback operation of the recording/reproducing apparatus is to be performed, an unlock lever of an unlock mechanism of the recording/reproducing apparatus is engaged in unlock grooves 2a, 2b on the bottom surface of the cassette casing 2 for disengaging a tape reel lock mechanism, not shown, and for causing rotation of the cassette lid 6 of the front side of the tape cassette 1. After rotation of the cassette lid 6, a tape guide member of a tape loading mechanism is intruded into a substantially T-shaped guide groove 8 formed in the bottom surface of the cassette casing 2 for reeling out the magnetic tape 3 from the tape reels 4A, 4B for loading the tape on a cylinder, a stationary head or on a capstan, by way of performing a loading operation.
A rectangular void space via which a tape guide member of the recording/reproducing apparatus constituting the tape loading mechanism is intruded, that is a mouth portion 9, is formed on the back surface of the cassette lid 6 in continuation to the sector-shaped foremost part of the guide groove 8.
The mouth portion 9 is of a variable shape depending on different design statements of the tape cassettes. Thus the mouth portion 9 is rectangular with the D-1 or D-2 tape cassettes, while it is trapezoidal void spacing, having the side of the cassette lid 6 as a long side, with the beta-cam type tape cassette 1A for business use which enables analog recording, as shown for example in FIG. 6. The mouth portion 9 is a substantially rectangular void spacing with a M-2 type tape cassette 1B for business use which enables analog recording shown in FIG. 7.
With a video tape cassette for household use, the mouth portion 9 is of different contours depending on different design statements. With a VHS tape cassette, shown in FIG. 9, and with a U standard type tape cassette 1E, shown in FIG. 10, the mouth portion is formed as a void space having the shape of a modified rectangle and as a substantially triangular void space, respectively.
If, with the tape reel 1, the tape reels 4A, 4B are rotated with idle movement, the magnetic tape 3 wound on the peripheral surfaces of the tape reels 4A, 4B is reeled out and becomes flexed or otherwise becomes unstable in winding pressure. In addition, the magnetic tape tends to be pinched by the cassette lid 6 etc. to cause damages to the magnetic tape 3.
Thus, with the tape cassette 1, the reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B are engaged in the reel holes 4a, 4b of the tape reels 4A, 4B for accommodating the tape cassette 1 in the tape reel containing recess 12 in order to prevent the tape reels 4A, 4B from performing idle rotation. Specifically, plural rib engagement grooves 21a, 21b are formed on the peripheral surfaces of the reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B, respectively, as shown in FIG. 3. These rib engagement grooves are engaged by ribs 4c, 4d formed on the tape holes 4a, 4b of the tape reels 4A, 4B for preventing idle movement in the rotating direction of the tape reels 4A, 4B.
It is noted that, while the tape cassette 1 has different contours of the mouth portion 9 depending on the different design statements, the tape cassette 1 has a length L from the center O of the reel holes 4a, 4b of the tape reels 4A, 4B to its front side which is different from a length M from the center O to its rear side. The cassette container casing 10 has its casing main member 11 designed to conform to such constitution of the tape cassette 1.
That is, the casing main member 11, having the tape cassette containing recess 12 having an opening size substantially equal to the outer size of the tape cassette 1, accommodated therein, has a distance L' from the center of each of the reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B on the bottom surface of the tape cassette holding recess 12 as far as its lateral surface section formed with the hinge 13 substantially equal to the length L from the center of each of the reel holes 4a, 4b of the tape cassette 1 as far as the front surface section of the cassette casing 2. In addition, the casing main member 11 has a length M' from the center of each of the reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B as far as its lateral surface formed with the hinge 18 substantially equal to the length M from the center of the reel holes 4a, 4b as far as the rear surface section of the cassette casing 2.
With the above constitution of the tape cassette 1 and the tape cassette container casing 10, it is necessary to take into account the orientation of the tape cassette 1 when accommodating the tape cassette 1 in the tape cassette housing recess 12 or 17.
For example, if the tape cassette 1 is contained in the tape cassette container casing 10 in the inverted fore-and-aft orientation, the reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B on the bottom surface of the tape cassette containing recess 12 are not engaged with the reel holes 4a, 4b of the tape reels 4A, 4B, with the rims of the reel holes riding on the uppermost portions of the reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B.
If the user is unaware of the mistaken fitting state and causes the lid 16 to be closed with the lid 16 bearing against the casing main member 11, the tape reels 4A, 4B are uplifted by the reel holding protrusions 21A, 21B, respectively. Thus the tape reels 4A, 4B become deformed with their flange parts being thrust against the inner surface of the upper cassette half of the cassette casing 2. With the flange parts of the tape reels 4A, 4B thus deformed, the magnetic tape 3 wound about the peripheral surfaces of the tape reels 4A, 4B has its edges distorted or crushed to produce a tape edge damage.